Most knitters know one absolute truth: getting through a difficult time often means knitting through it. It is this home truth - and the wisdom behind it - that comes through in the collection gathered in this book. These pieces - some by contemporary writers like Donna Druchunas and Sherri wood, others from sources as diverse as Federal Writer's Project, The Farmer's Wife Association - tell the story of knitting through adversity: the Great War, The Depression, times of political anxiety, unyielding prison terms, the hardships endured by Native American Indians over centuries. Men and women, young, old, rich, poor, black, white - their knitting narratives are poignant, often lyrical, rich with personal and cultural history and vivid imagery. They conjure up hardscrabble lives and immigrant experiences, the work of anxious hands kept busy creating warmth and beauty or earning desperately needed money.